Effort Administrator can be implemented using three different data sources:  employee entered time sheets, payroll data, and salary distribution records.  All three options may be implemented individually or in combination.  Payroll and salary distribution records may be imported from your institutions human resources or payroll system.  Time sheets and salary distribution records may be manually entered into Effort Administrator.

 

Time Sheet Data Entry

The time sheet data entry implementation option allows employees to enter time records into Effort Administrator data entry screens.  These screens are Internet enabled and allow employees to record time by project or for administrative functions, leave, etc.  Time may be recorded in fractions of hours or in percentages.  An internal calendar allows time to be entered as defined by your institution.  Examples of time periods include weekly, biweekly, bimonthly, and monthly.  Time sheets may be copied from one period to another and then updated to reduce data entry time.   After completion, the user can approve and electronically sign their time sheets, forwarding them onto an administrator to review. 

 

Multiple timesheets may be combined to make up a certification period if need be.  The resulting time data can be used in reports or exported to a payroll system.

 

Electronic Payroll Imports

Effort Administrator uses an interface to an institutions payroll system when basing effort certification on payroll records.  The interface is customized for each institution to import payroll records into the Effort Administrator database. It imports payroll records by pay period for individual employees and uses it to calculate percent effort from percentage of salary.  Cost sharing records are also created according to one of two algorithms.  In cases where the institutions identify cost sharing within their payroll system, the cost shared records are imported directly from payroll.  Otherwise, cost shared allocation information stored within Effort Administrator is used to allocate and create the appropriate cost shared payroll records.  The cost shared allocations information may either be manually maintained, imported from an external system, or selected from an IT Works Grant Management Software Module.

 

Imported payroll records can then be reviewed and certified by individual users.  Users may be allowed to correct discrepancies in the actual time computed from payroll.  Payroll percentages themselves may not be modified.  After passing a users review, the records can be certified and passed to an administrator to complete the approval process.

 

Salary Distribution Data Entry

The Effort Administrator salary distribution configuration uses employee salary profile records as the basis for effort certification and reporting.  In this case, employee salary distribution records may be either manually maintained within Effort Administrator or imported from the institutions human resource system.  In both cases, salary distribution display screens track percentage of salary and percentage of time for both sponsored projects and other institutional funds including cost shared accounts.  Start and end dates are used to track historical changes to salary sources such as when projects end or when changes are made within a certification period.  Effort certification statements and reports are generated from the salary distribution records.